Kyle Davies
Hiram Kyle Davies (born September 9, 1983 in Decatur, Georgia) is a Major League Baseball player with the Kansas City Royals. He grew up in Stockbridge, Georgia and graduated from Stockbridge High School. Davies signed right out of High School with the Atlanta Braves. Davies was a starting pitcher for the Atlanta Braves. He is part of the group of rookie players nicknamed the "Baby Braves" that Atlanta called up from its minor league system during the 2005 season. Davies made his Major League debut on May 21, 2005 a rainy night at Fenway Park in Boston and dominated six innings against the Red Sox. Braves pitchers John Thomson and Mike Hampton were both put on the disabled list with injuries, and Davies was called up. Davies immediately made an impact, as he did not allow a run in his first three starts in the Major Leagues. When Thomson and Hampton returned to the pitching rotation in August, Davies was sent back to the minor leagues. Davies began the season as a starter in Atlanta, after coming to spring training as a probable triple A starter. On May 15, 2006, Davies suffered an injury to his right groin while pitching against the Florida Marlins. He was later diagnosed with a torn groin muscle and underwent surgery several days later. As a result of the injury, Davies was put on the disabled list and missed 10 weeks of the season. He ended up making only 14 starts in 2006, with a very poor ERA of 8.38. Out of Spring Training in 2007, Davies was initially assigned to AAA Richmond. However, due to the injury of Lance Cormier at the end of Spring Training, he was promoted at the beginning of the year to fill Cormier's spot. Cormier's inability to return to form after rehabilitating and coming off the DL, coupled with the Braves losing Mike Hampton to season ending surgery, allowed Davies role on the pitching staff to cease being a fill-in role. However, in 17 starts, Davies had a terrible time establishing any pattern of reliability and consistency, posting a record of 4-8 with a 5.76 ERA. In a start on Monday, July 16th versus the Cincinnati Reds, Davies threw just 22 pitches and did not record an out before being taken out of the game. Consequently, Davies was optioned to AAA Richmond on July 19th as rookie Jo-Jo Reyes assumed his spot in the rotation. On July 31, 2007 Davies was traded to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for pitcher Octavio Dotel. On August 4th, Davies made his Royals debut going three innings and giving up five earned runs. He also gave up Alex Rodriguez's 500th homer in the first inning. But on August 9, he was able to bounce back with 6 and 2/3 scoreless innings against the Minnesota Twins, giving up only 3 hits and striking out 4. The Royals won the game by the score of 2-0. External links *MLB.com Player Information *Baseball Reference.com Statistics Category:Major league players from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Atlanta Braves players Category:Major league pitchers Category:1983 births Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Kansas City Royals players